Gay actor and singer Chris Salvatore makes a heart-felt plea for us to adopt one of the many gay American heros whose lives have been stolen from us, simply for being who they were. Watch.
Visit the Gay American Heroes Foundation for more info.
Preliminary results from a study commissioned by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops were released this week and find that gays priests are neither more or less likely than straight priests to molest and abuse children, which is something of course we knew all along.
“What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse,” said Margaret Smith of John Jay College, in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse from the data that we have right now.”
The question has been raised repeatedly within and outside the church because the overwhelming majority of known victims were boys. As part of the church’s response to the crisis, the Vatican ordered a review of all U.S. seminaries that, among other issues, looked for any “evidence of homosexuality” in the schools.
Yet, many experts on sex offenders reject any link between sexual orientation and committing abuse. Karen Terry, a John Jay researcher, said it was important to distinguish between sexual identity and behavior, and to look at who the offender had access to when seeking victims.
The bishops commissioned the $2 million study as part of widespread reforms they enacted at the height of the abuse crisis. The scandal erupted in 2002 with the case of one predator priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, then spread to every U.S. diocese and beyond.
Almost 14,000 molestation claims have been filed against Catholic clergy since 1950, according to tallies the bishops have released in recent years. Abuse-related costs have reached at least $2.3 billion in the same period.
Hopefully someone from the Catholic church will send a memo to Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, who in the clip below calls priest abuse a “homosexual” problem.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reveals her acting chops on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, as Sarah Palin’s new book truly goes rogue and takes her out. Funny stuff.
Now it’s official, statistically speaking anyway. Washington state’s Referendum 71, a domestic partnership bill which provides “Everything but Marriage” was passed by the voters 52 percent to 48 percent.
Sen. Ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat who spearheaded the law, called it “a great step forward for equality in Washington state.”
“I’m relieved,” he said. “I was very concerned that if the voters had said no, it would have been a major setback for gay and lesbian families in Washington state.”
The measure asked voters to approve or reject the latest expansion of the state’s domestic partnership law, granting registered domestic partners additional state rights previously given only to married couples.
Full-fledged gay marriage is still not allowed under Washington law.
Gary Randall of Protect Marriage Washington, which opposed the law and pushed to get the referendum on the ballot, said they weren’t ready to concede.
“We’re just going to wait and watch it play out,” he said.
It’s good to see at least one state not buy into the hate and fear. Congrats to Washington Families Standing Together and everyone else who fought to get Ref. 71 passed.